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PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.” 
[SINGLE NO. FIVE CENTS. 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
AN ORIGINAL WEEKLY 
Agricultural, Literary and Family Newspaper. 
CONDUCTED BY D. D. T. MOORE, 
WITH AN ABLE COB.P3 OF ASSISTANT EDITORS. 
The Rural New-Yorker is designed to be unsurpassed in 
Value, Purity, Usefulness and Variety of Contents, and unique and 
' beautiful in Appearance. Its Conductor devotes his personal atten¬ 
tion to the supervision of its various departments, and earnestly labors 
to render the Rural an eminently Reliable Guide on the important 
Practical, Scientific and other Subjects ultimately connected with tho 
business of those whose interests it zealously advocates. It embraces 
more Agricultural, Horticultural, Scientific, Educational, Literary and 
News Matter, interspersed with appropriate and beautiful Engravings, 
than any other journal,—rendering it the most complete Agricultu¬ 
ral, Literary and Family Journal in America. 
E''7“AI1 communications, and business letters, should be addressed 
to D D. T. MOORE, Rochester, N. Y. 
For Terms and other particulars, see last page. 
tol fjto-f 
NEW YORK STATE EAIR. 
DISCUSSION ON CORN CULTURE. 
After the interesting discussion at the State 
Pair, on barley, which we gave last week, the sub¬ 
ject of corn and its culture was taken up, T. C. 
Peters said he found the best practice to be to 
spread manure in the fall, plow late In the spring, 
about four inches deep, roll, drag and plant imme¬ 
diately. His land was a gravelly loam. Planted 
about the 20th of May, four feet each way, and ob¬ 
tained from 50 to GO bushels an acre, of the eight- 
rowed variety. 
, G. Geddes commenced farming when 21 ,pears 
old. Had learned that a course of farming that 
would pay one man would ruin another. Neither 
deep nor shallow plowing could be recommended 
for all land. Some light land might not be bene¬ 
fited by deep plowing, while in other land of a 
heavier character it was absolutely necessary to 
secure a good crop. 
E. Cornell, of Tompkins county, believed in 
high manuring and deep cultivation for corn.— 
Had grown 1.G0Q bushels of shelled corn on four 
acres in four years. Had grown 123 bushels on an 
acre, weighing 66 pounds to the bushel, as the re¬ 
sult of manuring and deep and thorough culture. 
Mr. C. said in answer to a question from Mr. 
Geddes that the crop was measured in the fall— 
Mr. G. said that corn will shrink from 15 to 20 per 
cent between fall and spring. He had been trying 
all his life to raise a hundred bushels of shelled 
corn to the acre and had not done it, and would 
go a long journey to see such a crop. 
J. J. Thomas, had tried some experiments to as¬ 
certain the best distance to plant corn to secure 
the largest crop. He found that corn planted three 
feet by eighteen inches would produce one third 
more corn than if planted three feet each way.— 
Several other gentlemen agreed with Mr. T. that 
this way of planting woxld give a large yield, but 
whether sufficient to pay for the extra labor re¬ 
quired in its culture was a matter of some ques¬ 
tion. 
Mr. Mattoon, of Oneida county, had been taught 
the necessity of deep plowing, by experience.— 
Had raised 500 bushels of sound ears upon five 
acres by plowing from 10 to 12 inches deep, where 
50 buBhels would not have grown by shallow plow¬ 
ing. He got rid of the wire-worm by using the 
Michigan plow, turning the sod down deep and 
covering it with the second Bhare, about 10 inches 
deep. Preferred to mix seed. Grew a mixture of 
Dutton, Yellow, Flint and Red Streak. 
T. C. Peters said it had been stated that our ag¬ 
ricultural products were decreasing, but he thought 
it a mistake. Oar population is becoming more 
dense along the Railroads and grain culture is less¬ 
ening. He spoke of the value of agricultural 
statistics, and thought assessors could do this work. 
He sowed a plot of ground, in drills, with Ohio 
corn for fodder and obtained at the rate of about 
40,000 pounds to the acre. 
George Clark, of Otsego, believed that Indian 
corn as a basis of feeding animals was of more 
importance than any or all roots. Several other 
gentlemen expressed the same opinion, though no 
experiments were given as a foundation of these 
opinions, without which the bare assertion is not of 
much account 
John L. Peckham, of Utica, inquired if corn 
was a profitable crop for the dairymen to grow.— 
To this there was a general affirmative answer. 
Mr. Brown, of Onondaga, raised corn much 
cheaper now than he did fifteen years ago. Plow 
in the fall eight or ten inches deep—soil gravelly 
loam. Mellow it in the spring with a cultivator, 
and do most of the cultivation with the same im¬ 
plement Grew near 100 bushels per acre this year, 
and it wont cost me over 10.jc. per bushel. Think 
farmers would do well to depend more upon corn. 
Manure by top-dressing with compost, using salt, 
plaster, and unleached ashes with barn-yard ma¬ 
nure. 
Mr. Brown, of Madison, said lime had been re¬ 
commended for killing' the wire-worm. He had 
come to the conclusion that it would not do it Had 
used lime, ashes and plaster in the hill and all 
would not kill them. They will live in wet lime.— 
Had tried various modes and preferred to top corn. 
Mr. Olds, of Herkimer, thought there was hut 
one right way to cure corn, and that was to pull it 
up by the roots. 
B. F. Carpenter, of Chemung, says stacks can he 
made over a horse which had been described in the 
Rural New Yorker, better than any other way. A 
sample of butter made from sugar-cane feed was 
pronounced very superior. Cows will eat the cane 
when full fed with grass. Prefer to cultivate my 
corn planted in drills for fodder, dropping very 
close, taking three and a half bushels of seed. Cut 
and fed sorghum the first of September. 
Prof. Wilson, of Iowa, said, if we cannot grow 
com with you, we can heat you in growing grass. 
We can make, as an average crop, from four to five 
tuns per acre of good hay from the Hungarian 
grass, and eight tuns per acre has been made. It 
is as easily cured as timothy. It is sown in the 
spring, say May, and cut in August. It is pre¬ 
ferred to timothy, and it is the most reliable grass 
for the prairie for hay, and the after growth makes 
good pasture. We sow one-third of a bushel per 
acre. It has been mostly grown upon new lands. 
The Corn Horse referred to by Mr. Carpenter, 
we presume, is the one published in the Rural 
of 1855, as it has been very generally used, 
and is well liked. Indeed, since its first pub¬ 
lication, correspondents have several times sent 
us descriptions of this implement, as something 
new and valuable, not knowing the source from 
which it originated. One of these recently re¬ 
ceived, as it contains a description of the manner 
of construction, wo give our readers, so that all 
may have the necessary information, without hunt¬ 
ing over their back volumes. 
Messrs. Eds. :—Last fall, while traveling in Mich¬ 
igan, I saw an instrument used in cutting up corn, 
called the Corn Horse, and on my return home I 
made one, and found it to he a saving of at least 
one-third in time and labor. In its construction, 
is used a pole of about 12 feet in lenght, being 4 
inches in diameter at the large end, in which is 
placed two legs, wide enough apart at the bottom 
to be admitted between the rows of corn, and 
in length according to the heigth of the corn, say 
three or four feet, while the other end rests on the 
ground. About three feet back of the legs is a l£ 
inch hole, through which is placed a rod four or 
five feet long, that is easily admitted and removed, 
and is horizontal when the horse is standing, as 
Ehown in the engraving. 
The horse is placed in the centre of the number 
of rows desired to he cut, the corn is placed in the 
four corners around the rod, the shock is then 
tied, the horizontal rod removed, and the horse 
drawn ahead. The rod is replaced, when it is 
ready for forming another shock. All will at once 
see its utility; at least it will cost nothing to try it. 
—B., Sheldrake, Seneca Co., N. Y. 
EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 
Judging from the tone of recent contributions to 
the Rural, the authors being practical farmers, 
the subject of Permanent Pastures seems to be 
attracting more than ordinary attention — gaining 
a consideration which would seem likely to lead to 
their more general adoption by American agricul¬ 
turists. In a recent issue of the Royal Ag. Society’s 
Journal, Grass Land Management forms a charac¬ 
teristic feature—five essays being devoted to this 
specialty—and we purpose to condense therefrom 
a few of the leading thoughts and facts presented. 
Newly-Laid Down Grass Land.— The paper 
of Mr. H. 8. Thompson, Chairman oFthe Journal 
Committee, discusses the best mode of treating 
newly-laid down grass for the production of a good 
permanent pasture. After long experience and 
repeated failures in the attempt to establish a pas¬ 
ture by folding Bheep year after year on young 
grass, Mr. T. became satisfied “that to graze sheep 
on yonng seeds intended for permanent pasture 
was a mistake, and had been, in all probability, the 
cause of previous failures. Had never succeeded 
under such course of feeding; but since making a 
rale to exclude sheep for some years from newly- 
laid grass, during the season of active growth, had 
not failed in a single instance.” The plan of Mr. 
Thompson is to mow the first year, and as soon as 
the hay is removed, to give a good dressing of 
barn-yard manure, and then, for some years, to pas- 
tare it with cattle, beginning, for the first year or 
two, with yonng stock, until the turf is close and 
strong enough to bear the treadiDg of heavy 
cattle. 
The essays of Mr. Dixon, —for which the Society 
awarded a premium,—are confined to the effects of 
nuderdraining, mamifingavRU bone dust, lirce, etc. 
One of the farms inspected by Mr. Dixon, consist¬ 
ing of 98 acres, had been frequently manured, 
boiled bonus to the value of $1,250 spread upon it, 
but without any apparent increase in vegetation, 
or change in the quality of the land. At the period 
of his first visit, (1838) did not believe that 300 
pounds of hay could be obtained from au acre.— 
Draining was commenced, and the year following 
(1839) the stock on the farm, which had previously 
consisted of four cows, was doubled. In 1842 the 
dairy Btock wsb further increased to twenty-four 
cows, and in the autumn eighty sheep were put on 
the land to consume the superabundant grass.— 
The draining was not thorough, for surface water 
was apparent in many places, yet sufficient facts 
were elicited to prove the advantages derivable 
from a system of water conduits. 
Iu reference to liming , Mr. Dixon states that he 
was employed to bring up several hundred acres 
of land, which was completely worn out,—consist¬ 
ing of “a number of small farms, which had been 
purchased by a gentleman who desired to see the 
land of his early days wear a more pleasing appear¬ 
ance.” The soil, for the most part, lay on poor 
clay or slate. -Rather extensive draining was done 
on the clay land; and the material thrown out of 
the drains, being of a soft and cohesive character, 
was not returned. This was mixed with lime in 
equal quantities — the object being to destroy or 
reduce the nature of the clay—and in about four¬ 
teen days the lime nearly burned the clay. The 
compost was then turned over altogether, and was 
completely comminuted. In due course it was ap¬ 
plied to the land, and in a few weeks there was am 
pie evidence that the practice was correct. The 
compost acted sooner than lime alone, and to some 
extent more effective. The amount of lime used 
varied from eight to nine tuns per acre. In one 
year after the lime had been applied, los. to 15s. 
per acre advance in rent was easily obtained. 
Proper Time to Fell Timber. —An article upon 
this subject, in one of our American Agricultural 
Journals, was copied by the London Gardeners' 
Chronicle, and the opinions of British foresters 
were sought upon the American practice of felling 
oak and other timber trees while the leaf was in 
full vigor. In response thereto, Wm. Masters, of 
the “Exotic Narsery,” writes to the Chronicle, sup¬ 
porting the American theory. In his argument he 
adverts to pieces of sound oak removed from the 
tower of the Canterbury Cathedral, which must have 
been placed there with the building, seven hundred 
years previous. “ It was impossible,” remarks Mr. 
M., “to state at what precise period of the year 
this timber was cut; but, as the bark was still on, 
it could not have been in June —as is now the Eng¬ 
lish practice—it might have been in mid-winter, or 
it might have been after the leaves had performed 
their office in a great measure, and before their 
fall. I am led to this surmise by the fact that when 
timber is cut in August and September, it does not 
pour out its sap, the watery particles being at that 
time in the leaves and smaller branches, and not in 
the more compact part of the tree, and by severing 
the branches and leaves from the trunk you pre 
vent its return. It is an indisputable fact, that in 
ship building it often occurs that before the vessel 
is completed some portions have decayed by dry 
rot. Now, without dogmatizing upon the matter, 
I would surmise that if the timber had been cut 
FAWKES’ STEAM PLOW. 
when it contained the smallest portion of sap, such 
a result would have been far leas likely to have 
occurred. It has long been a practice with build¬ 
ers to employ green elm for foundations where 
the ground is treacherous. Why use elm cut down 
when in full leaf if it was not less likely to decay 
than elm cut down at the usual time? 
PLOWING BY STEAM. 
When chronicling some of the experiments made 
with Steam Plows in England, we expressed tho 
opinion that, “no land in the world is better 
adapted to steam plowing than the boundless 
prairies of the West. In ten years from now, 
scores of Steam Plows may he engaged in turning 
over these rich soils.” Breaking up the prairie is 
a serious and costly work for the new settler. It 
can be done with no ordinary team which he can 
keep, therefore he is compelled to employ those 
who have proper teams and plows, and make this 
their business. The price paid for this work is 
generally about three dollars per acre, so that the 
new settler on the prairie who breaks up one 
hvindred acres, has to invest $300 for plowing, al¬ 
though himself and boys may stand idly by and 
look on. Then fencing on the prairie is coBtly, as 
is building, and he will need a “ smart pile ” of cash 
to get a good start. We have seen the crops of 
the farmer destroyed for want of fences and barns,— 
his cattle unsheltered from the terrible winds that 
sweep unobstructed over the boundless prairies,— 
and when we inqnired the cause of this, learned 
that the unexpectedly large outlay for building a 
cottage and breaking up, had exhausted the means 
that was designed to build barns and fences. Any 
invention^that will lessen the cost of breaking np 
and fencing, will be of incalculable benefit to the 
Prairie States. It is for this reason that we have 
anxiously looked for and desired the success of 
the Steam Plow. 
The Executive Board of the Agricultural Society 
of Illinois seems to have taken the same view of 
the matter, and accordingly offered “a premium 
of Jive thousand dollars for the best Bteam engine 
suitable for plowing and other work, the practica¬ 
bility to be decided by the Board.” In view of 
the encouragement thus offered, Mr. J.W. Fawkes, 
of Lancaster, Pa., exhibited and worked a Steam 
Plow at the late Stale Fair at Centralia, an en¬ 
graving of which we give from Emery's Journal. 
We copy our description of the machine and its 
operation from the Chicago Press and other jour¬ 
nals, all of which are load in its praise. 
The engraving shows the general features of the 
engine and plows, and can hardly be misunder¬ 
stood. The large or propelling wheel in the 
centre is barrel-shaped, which facilitates turning 
corners very much; it is about six feet long, and 
five feet in diameter, thus presenting a great 
amount of surface to the ground in traveling; the 
forward wheels are of about the same diameter 
and one foot surface, and are the guidiDg wheels, 
being moved by the operator by a screw gear. The 
plows are hung in a frame at the rear of the en¬ 
gine — each one independent of the other, and 
drawn by separate rods attached to rear of the 
engine. In order to keep the plows dose to their 
work in uneven or irregular surfaces, strong coiled 
springs are placed on the suspending rods. With 
the ropes and pulleys, the whole gang of plows are 
instantly raised from the ground and let down 
again. 
It draws six plows, cutting a foot each, attached 
in a frame, and so regulated by spiral springs that 
hey yield to any extraordinary obstruction. As 
there was no stubble field near, it was concluded 
to make trial on the unbroken prairie. This was 
now baked so bad by drouth, that the prairie¬ 
breaking plows would not run in it, and the trial 
of sod plows was abandoned in consequence. Not¬ 
withstanding this fact, the inventor was so confi- 
j dent of success, that he gave the order to put the 
plows to work in this almost impervious soil.— 
After a little delay in regulating to this brick-like 
surface, the engine moved forward, when six fur¬ 
rows were turned side by side, in the most work¬ 
manlike manner. The excitement of the crowd 
was beyond control, and their shouts and wild 
huzzas echoed far over the prairie, as there be¬ 
neath the smiling Autumn sun, lay the first farrow 
turned by steam on the broad prairies of the 
mighty West. 
The goal was won. Steam had conquered the 
face of nature, and the Steam Plow had become a 
fact; it was working over the rich, rolling prairies 
of “ Egypt,” and turning up its wealth of nutritious 
elements for the growth of the cereal and pomonal 
products — Belf-moving, and containing a power 
unequaled to turn up the lower strata of soil, so 
rich in potash, in phosphates, in silica and other 
essential elements of vegetable growth. Tho long 
line of matchless furrows parted the crowd, and 
lay between the moving masses like a line of silver 
wove in the gray getting of the prairie. Amid the 
excitement the inventor remained calm; it was 
enough for him to hear the glad Bhouts of victory 
which rent the air—for this he had toiled—for this 
his hands had become hardened, and his face made 
swarthy over the glowing iron, out of which he 
forged the muscles of his iron steed of the prairies. 
Mr. Fawkes and others were called out by the 
crowd, and made brief speeches. Mr. Coleman, a 
member of the Board, spoke of the success of the 
Steam Plow now witnessed, as marking a new era 
in the world’s progress, and declared that the 
great enterprise of Fawkes, may be placed side 
by side with the steam engine, the steamboat, the 
locomotive, the cotton gin, and the telegraph. 
The engine again moved forward, when the plows 
turned np the loose mud drift of Egypt, laying six 
furrows side-by-side, with the most perfect ease 
and in the most workmanlike manner. The con¬ 
sumption of fael and water was very moderate.— 
That the engine is a complete succesp, there can 
be no doubt, and all that is now wanting, is to de¬ 
monstrate that, taking the whole expense into 
consideration, it is cheaper than horse-power. If 
this is answered in the affirmative, it will produce 
the greatest revolution in agricultural progress 
that we have yet seen; it will take another wrinkle 
from the brow of labor, and give to the toiling 
millions lighter tasks to perform. 
The inventor, in a recent note, says:—“I know 
the good people of the West are in want of my in¬ 
vention, as much as the people of the Old and New 
World were in want of Fulton’s invention. The 
time has come when animal power is not sufficient 
to perform the great work required by this class. 
Therefore, gentlemen, if God spares my life, it is 
my intention to devote my time and limited means 
to the speedy perfection of steam engines adapted 
to the cultivation of the wide extended prairies.” 
The Corn Crop in Kentucky. — The Louisville 
Journal says that the corn crop has never been so 
large in Kentucky as the present crop promises to 
be. It states that there are fields in the blue grass 
region estimated at one hundred and seventy-five 
bushels to the acre, while fields promising seventy- 
five to eighty bushels are quite common. 
VOL. IX. NO. U.\ 
ROCHESTER, N. Y.,-SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1858. 
iWHOLE NO. -ICO. 
